He was determined to live the movie star life to the full. But hellraiser Colin Farrell admits that the spectre of an early death forced him to give up boozing and settle for a quiet life.

From the day he arrived in Hollywood as an up-and-coming young actor, the boy from Castleknock, Dublin built a raucous reputation as a heavy-drinking womaniser in the mould of his Irish predecessors Peter O’Toole and Richard Harris. His late-night exploits became legendary.

“I just came in blazing, man,” says Farrell, 32.

“I was 22 or 23 and I didn’t know why or what or how or when – I just enjoyed it. Then I kind of stopped enjoying it. The trip got a little bit out of hand for me, so I just stepped back.”

But, he concedes, the Colin Farrell of those days would not have approved of his quiet, alcohol-free life today.

“Five years ago, if I’d looked at the life I live now I would have said, ‘God, he’s so boring!’ I wouldn’t have understood it then, but I had to make some changes in my life if I wanted to stay alive. So I made them and my life now is blissfully quiet.

“All the madness and chaos, and all the people around me got so tiring after a while that I had to find another way. And while I don’t live a monk-like existence, I have a new appreciation for solitude that would have terrified me years ago. I’m glad the madness is over.”

Farrell is talking in a Beverly Hills hotel about the release of his latest movie, the New York family police drama Pride And Glory.

His hair is currently long and bushy for his role as a fisherman in the mermaid movie Ondine, which he has just finished filming

in Ireland, and his conversation is relatively free of profanities, which is unusual for the outspoken actor.

Pride And Glory explores the personal and professional lives of New York cops through the interwoven stories of three generations of a family of police officers.

Farrell plays the leader of a gang of rogue cops involved in a corruption scandal which is being investigated by his brother-in-law.

Originally entitled Manhattan North, the movie was finished two years ago, but has sat on the shelf since then awaiting release.

To research his role Farrell and his co-star Edward Norton spent time in the NYPD.

“I found them incredibly generous with their experiences,” says Farrell.

“They were all aware of certain bad elements that had been in the force, but they were actively involved in doing the job they were paid to do as honestly as the could, before getting home to their families at night.”

Farrell, too, is more of a family man than ever before, after a seven-year whirl in which he was romantically linked to a string of actresses including Demi Moore, Kate Beckinsale, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, his Alexander The Great co-star Angelina Jolie and Kim Bordenave, who gave birth to his son, James, five years ago.

He dotes on the boy, who has Angelman syndrome, a rare neurogenetic disorder that impairs speech and motor skills.

“Some of the best things that happen to you in life are unplanned,” he reflects.

“That was what my son was. He’s the best thing that ever happened to me by a mile.”

Colin is currently dating English novelist Emma Forrest and spends most of his time at his home in the Los Feliz area of LA to be close to his son. However, he often returns to Dublin, where most of his family still live.

He grew up wanting to be a professional soccer player like his father Eamonn and uncle Tommy, who both played for Shamrock Rovers.

But Colin didn’t train hard enough to make the grade and turned his hand to acting. In 1997, he had his first film role in Drinking Crude and then, as Col Farrell, landed a regular role as Danny Byrne in the television series Ballykissangel.

He was spotted in a play at the Donmar Warehouse in London by Kevin Spacey, who recommended him for a role in Ordinary Decent Criminals, and then Joel Schumacher cast him as the cocky young Texan soldier Boz in Tigerland. Suddenly he was in demand.

In quick succession, Colin starred in American Outlaws, Hart’s War, The Recruit, Daredevil and Phone Booth, and had a cameo role in Veronica Guerin. But his career hit a bump when he dyed his hair blonde to portray the Macedonian conqueror Alexander The Great in Oliver Stone’s historical drama Alexander, which received scathing reviews.

But Farrell’s hard working, hard partying lifestyle eventually caught up with him and he entered rehab exhausted in December 2005.

“I just felt it was time for a natural break which gave me a bit of time and a bit of perspective,” he says. “I just stepped back from the juggernaut of the seven years and it was the first time I’d really felt like I took a breath.”

His recent films have included Woody Allen’s Cassandra’s Dream, the highly-praised In Bruges, and Terry Gilliam’s yet-to-be-released The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus, which Heath Ledger was filming when he died.

“I’ve just done four films back-to-back,” Colin smiles.

“Now I’m going to walk away and just try and be me for a little while.”